


My OC's Backstory

by EveandJohnny



Series: The Radiologist [8]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-03-17 17:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18970003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveandJohnny/pseuds/EveandJohnny
Summary: Annabelle Willems plays an important role in the mechanisms of the remaining PPDC but how was life for her before the Shatterdome? How will it be after?





	1. Prompt 3: Friends

**Author's Note:**

> This work came into being thanks to the writing event "Your OC's Backstory" initiated by the tumblr blog with the same name. I was looking for a new challenge this summer and found it in this interesting event. New chapters will be published every Sunday as the event commences. I only found it now, midway through the challenge, in case there is confusion about the chapter titles.

Eleven-year-old Annabelle shut the door behind her, leaned against it and closed her eyes. Today had been particularly bad. In second break she was on the verge of surrendering, contemplated to feign a headache and be sent home. Or just spent the rest of the school day in the nurse's office. But then she had decided, no, that would just give the bullies more fodder. And even changing into her less revealing gym clothes was not an option. So she stayed in that white sundress with the pineapple print that showed her big arms and calves and that she loved so much. Even though that meant still hearing the hushed whispers and the openly shouted insults that compared her to big animals living in rivers in Africa's savannas. She had just bitten her lip, breathed deeply and walked on. Only two more periods, she had told herself. Only one more break. Nothing she wasn't capable of handling. She only needed to hold on a bit longer. It would be okay.

Now she was home, it was Friday, and she had two days to regroup and brace herself for more assaults on Monday.

Suddenly, she was startled out of her mind exercises by a knock on the door she was still leaning on. She gasped, her eyes flying open, and turned to peer through the frosted-glass window beside the door. She could only make out the silhouette of the person standing there. It was enough to determine that this was not an adult whom she wasn't allowed to open when she was home alone. Instead, the person outside was even shorter than she was though that was not really a stunt as she was pretty tall for her age.

Gingerly, she opened the door - and her first urge was to close it again because the girl behind it was Penelope, one of those culprits who had enjoyed screaming "The hippo, the hippo, the hippo rides on the bus and all the children say 'Move over, you're squeezing us!'" the loudest.  
But then Annabelle remembered what she had just told herself: Stand. Your. Damn. Ground. So she asked through gritted teeth "What do you want?"

Penelope immediately backed away a couple of steps. "Uhm", she stuttered as she fully realized by Annabelle's blazing eyes just how much damage she had done. She gripped the parcel in her hand tighter. "I wanted" she stammered "I wanted to say I'm sorry. It was really lousy from me to shout along with the other kids."

Annabelle frowned, the memory of that painful stalk down the hallway popping up in her mind. But she didn't want her hurt to be shown so she asked sarcastically "Shouting along? You were the loudest. The leader."

Penelope paled even more, afraid of what she was about to say next. "But only because I want to be part of the cool kids. I want to belong. And I actually admire you for you being you."

Annabelle felt that she told the truth but she couldn't help but revel in her opponent's insecurities. For once she was the one on top. "Can't believe that. Prove it!" She knew how unmanageable the task was she was demanding.

Penelope was shaking. Then she wordlessly extended the gift she was holding. After a moment of hesitation Annabelle took it with a suspicious look and opened it. Out came a plush dog, already well-loved, on beige with brown ears and patches on its body. "Her name is Tina" Penelope whispered.

Annabelle didn't need to be told. She remembered how much Penelope had loved the dog in kindergarten. She had brought her every day and couldn't stop crying the one day when she had lost her forever. Annabelle still saw the boundless joy on Penelope's face when the dog was found behind bushes, her fur colour barely recognisable under all that dirt.

And now she wanted to give her most-loved companion to her, Annabelle. She instantly regretted her hostile behaviour even though she had had all the right to it.

She hesitated in taking the dog until Penelope basically shoved her into her arms. "Thank you" Annabelle finally managed to say in a hoarse voice.

"Don't say that" Penelope said quietly. "I'm really, really sorry."

Annabelle inhaled deeply, mumbling "I know", then she embraced her tightly.


	2. Prompt 4: Skills

  "Annabelle, please come here" her grandmother said in her distinctive raspy voice and waved her inside from where she was standing in the veranda door. Annabelle immediately got up from her chair at the family coffee table and followed her into the house. She had always been her grandma's favourite and she shared secrets with Annabelle she told nobody else.

  Now she guided her into her bedroom where in summer the curtains were always drawn, leaving the air chilly and the atmosphere slightly spooky. Annabelle was on her last summer break. She was 17 and had one more year before her Vwo in Natuur en Techniek.

 Her grandma went over to the nightstand beside her big oaken canopy bed that was stuffed with pillows and thick duvets. As close as and as similar Annabelle and her grandma usually were, this peculiarity Annabelle didn't understand. She basically melted when she stepped outside even though the summers in the Netherlands were rather moderate. But maybe it was true that old people were always freezing. Her grandma was old - she was nearing her 80th birthday - but she looked and behaved like a woman in her sixties.

  She took a velvety pouch from the drawer and sat on the bed, patting the spot beside her. She motioned Annabelle to form a bowl with her hands and then let a necklace fall into them. It was a long leather strap with a forest green gemstone ring dangling from it.

  Annabelle held the necklace close to her eyes and examined it suspiciously. "What is that?"

  "Our family's greatest possession. You have to promise me to always protect it."

  "Okay, but first I need to know what it is" Annabelle said, still looking at the piece of jewelry.

  She shot up when her grandma called "No!" in a stern voice. "For once you have to put your scientist's nature aside and just do as I tell you!"

  "Yes, Oma, okay!" She sincerely said "I swear to keep this necklace safe by all that is dear to me."

  Her grandma nodded approvingly. "Good, now also promise me to just _listen_." Annabelle earned herself another stern look so she just nodded complyingly.

  "Now this gemstone here has magical powers, powered by the earth herself. There is no scientific explanation on how it works - or maybe there is. But I never cared for that. You know me. Anyway, _we_ don't have those powers, we can only control them. If, of course, we practice and, most importantly, we believe in them. If you don't believe in it it won't work."

  Annabelle scrunched her nose in doubt. "You know that you're asking a lot of me here. Why didn't you give it to Angelique then?" Angelique was Annabelle's eldest sister, seven years older, and very much into esoterism.

  "Because this is not about spiritual epiphany. The stone has actual palpable powers that can alter fate. And it is your responsibility to decide when this is necessary and helpful."

  "Phew" Annabelle said. It took her a few minutes to process this. She wasn't close minded, no, but throughout most of her secondary education it were the sciences that she was really interested in. By now, she was trying to solve everything with rational thinking, so much that her emotional skills had pretty much withered. And now there was this magical gemstone, from her beloved grandma who should know her better, challenging this mindset.

  Her grandma saw that she needed more persuasion. "Look, Anna, it is actually helpful to operate the stone with rational thinking. In the greater scheme of things I believe that it's the sciences that will eventually save us. But we should never forget our feelings. So here is your chance to combine the two worlds. Your logical mind finds the right solutions, and the magical stone will help you achieve them no matter how impossible they seem." Then she leaned in closer and whispered "Maybe it will also help understanding and defeating the Kaijus."

  Annabelle's eyebrows twitched. The Kaiju Wars had been raging for five years now and so far it seemed that humanity could actually win it as the Jaeger's were bringing home victory after victory. Since the Kaijus had first made the news, Annabelle had been hooked on the matter. First, she had just found them cool, without forgetting their destructive nature of course, and had doodled fights of Jaeger and Kaiju in her notebooks. Then the PPDC had been formed and this was the trigger for her to pursue a scientific career with the hope to one day partake in the organisation. As she categorically rejected the military and she didn't have the physique to get through the pilot program, the scientific branch of the PPDC seemed the only way in for her. Until she was done with her training - she planned to apply at the ESA facility in Noordwijk - the war might be already over. Then again, five years of Kaiju War meant at least a hundred years of research afterwards.

  She looked at her grandma, knowing full well that she had waited to play this card to finally convince her - and that it would work. "What do I have to do?"


	3. Prompt 6: First Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for "updating every Sunday". The prompt "Rivals" will come eventually, though I have no idea when. Last Sunday's prompt "Loss" is in the works and I hope I can go back to regular posting this week.

  It feels like ages that Chuck has been to her office. After Christmas, the deconstruction of the Shatterdome had gained its final momentum, occupying everyone and leaving little to no time for anything else. They even hadn't seen each other in the mess as Chuck had been basically working 24/7 on dismantling and she had feverishly researched reliable long-term treatments for all employees. So except for the occasional quick check-up they hadn't met in the last half year.

  As he looks around the office now he hardly recognises it. All equipment is gone, as is most paperwork, and even the kettle and teacups are packed up. He suspects that her private room looks similarly bleak. A knot tightens in his stomach when he thinks about her leaving tomorrow for Sapporo where she landed a job at a hospital that had desperately needed an English speaking radiologist. And there ain't none better, that he is convinced of.

  "Chuck" says a familiar voice behind him and he can hear the sad smile in it. He turns around to see Annabelle leaning in the doorframe, arms crossed, clad in her usual attire of white lab coat, denim shirt and khaki pants. A certain melancholy washes over her features.

  A sigh accompanies her name when he greets her and invitingly extends an arm. She gets the hint, pushes herself off the doorframe and leans into him instead. He closes the arm around her shoulders.

  "I've missed you" he says quietly to which she nearly snorts.

  "I'm not even gone yet." Then her tone becomes earnest. "But I know what you mean."

  "You usually do." He strokes the back of her neck.

  After a bit of silence where they just enjoy each other's company she asks "So what are your plans for life after the Shatterdome?"

  "Traveling" he answers so quickly as if he's just been waiting for the question. "Raleigh and I gonna head to South Africa first and then tour through Europe for a bit. A pity that you're not going to go back to the Netherlands right away." The last sentence he says with a grin.

  She shrugs. "I'm not sure I'm ever going to move back at all."

  "No?"

  "No." She shakes her head. "There's so much in the world I want to see and the Netherlands are supposed to vanish anyway, considering the rising sea levels. But I don't even know where to go after my time in Japan. Maybe somewhere in Latin America, someplace close to Antarctica." The statement, anyway said rather laconically, ends in a joking tone that has the desired effect.

  He chuckles. "Yeah, sounds about right for you. How's the climate in Sapporo?"

  "Cold and snowy winters and mostly warm summers with the occasional hot day. It's not perfect but it's way better than Nagasaki where I also had a job offer from. There the climate is subtropical. When I looked it up I instantly thought 'well, nevermind' and kindly rejected. Hong Kong has scarred me for life."

  He laughs about that, the deep belly-rumble laugh she loves so much. Oh, she misses him already! She realizes that this moment right here will be the last to see him in a very long time. Herc had given Chuck the order to accompany a convoy of Jaeger tech bound for an Australian military base later tonight. He won't return until next week when she'll already had her first couple of days at work. She swallows, the heavy weight of farewell pressing down on her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she decides to confess something to him nobody else knows, and never will know. It's just between the two of them.

  "Chuck Hansen, I have to tell you something."

  His eyebrows shoot up when hearing her grave tone, then he nods, cautious of what's to come. "I'm listening."

  She takes a deep breath and says, barely audible "You were my first love."

 His eyebrows shoot up even higher. "I was?" he asks in a tone so incredulous it nearly makes her laugh.

  "Yes, you were. Incredible, right?" She unwraps his arm from her shoulders and stands so that she can study his body language.

  His facial expression is a mixture of confusion, joy and being impressed. "Kind of, yeah. How do you know? We've never been a couple."

  "No, we weren't. Which was absolutely fine by me. You and Raleigh are in a stable relationship which I would have never cared to interfere with. That's why I was tremendously anxious back then in the hospital bed. I couldn't even ask you because I didn't trust my voice to not break. But I still just know." She avoids his eyes now and instead focuses on his freshly shaven chin.

  He notices her gaze, absentmindedly grabs his chin and explains "Rals and I are gonna go out tonight so I reckoned I better make myself presentable."

  She rolls her eyes. "You're more than just presentable - and you know that."

  With a cheeky grin he replies "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to hear a last compliment from you."

  On the inside she melts seeing that grin but on the outside she only shakes her head and steps a little closer. "Doesn't Raleigh give you enough attention?"

 "He does, I was just joking. But there really is one more thing I would like to have from you." His face changes from playful to serious, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes is gone. He swallows, even after all this time he still hesitates and waits for her. It's not just chivalry, it's something genuine and it makes him hate her departure even more.

  Her heart flutters when she sees the question on his face. It's what she had hoped for to end this chapter in her life - the chapter with him - properly. Right now she doesn't care if he will ever be the only one.

 Instead of giving him an answer she rises to her tiptoes, grabs the lapels of his worn-out leather jacket and kisses him.

  He taught her how to kiss. They have never gone any further than that except for that one night on their summer holiday in Australia. But then again had that just been a salsa dance, albeit a rather steamy one. He had never asked for more and she is grateful that he always respects her boundaries. (That should be, of course, the rule and not the exception.) She, though, still sometimes has semi-guilty feelings that she inconveniences him with her asexuality. She shouldn't feel this way, she knows, but in some moments there is not a lot she can do about it.

  This is the longest kiss they share which seems appropriate for a last kiss. Still holding her large waist, he leans back and looks into her eyes, brown as the shadows in a deep forest on a bright and sunny day. "I hate to see you go" he says and it comes out somewhat choked.

  Her throat also feels as if she's about to be strangled but it's not enough to change her mind. She will leave, just as she had left home despite her dad's countless pleadings and her mother's nagging doubts. The only one who could stop her now is herself. And before that happens hell will freeze.

 

  


	4. Prompt 7: Loss

  Her tiny single room apartment overlooks an iron bridge holding the tracks of the Gakuentoshi Line above the Ishikari River. In spring the banks are supposed to be in full bloom with countless cherry blossoms but now the trees are blank and the muddy green water all dull in the pouring rain.

  She has arrived yesterday, with nothing but two suitcases, a backpack and some basic knowledge of Japanese. With that, she bought some curtains and a futon yesterday because the apartment came unfurnished. The rest of the furniture she ordered online before she flew here is supposed to arrive today. It won't to be much - who knows how long she's going to stay here - but she needs a shelf for her books and little trinkets as well as a nice little side table for the beautiful tea set she got as a farewell present from the Shatterdome crew.

  At the moment, Annabelle sits in front of her suitcases to unpack them. She had noticed that she had no wardrobe and "that" chair, so she went out this morning to get some foldable stuff. That pretty much will fill the apartment anyway. At least there's a fridge and two portable hot plates included in the rent.

  As she sorts through her stuff a sudden notion let's her stomach sink. She starts to unpack quicker until her movements become frantic untilshe just throws the clothes on the floor.

  When both of the suitcases are empty she digs through the piles of clothing, hoping that she has just missed it.

  She has not. Even after turning everything over thrice it's still not there. She honestly forgot it at the Shatterdome. Or did she put it in her hand luggage? But that's impossible. She unpacked that yesterday evening and she's certain it wasn't among the things there.

 But how could she forget it?

 True, it doesn't have the same emotional value as in her early teen years. The friendship it represents has cooled down a long time ago from having sleepovers every night to just texting each other every other month.

  Still, it had been a trusted comrade for over a decade, keeping her company when no one else had. It reminded her of home when her parents hadn't.

  She grips a couple of pants tightly and inhales deeply to control the overwhelming wave of sadness and homesickness that washes over her.  Blinking rapidly, she gets up and the look around the white and still very impersonal room leaves her even emptier.

  She takes a step to the window, the weather outside not helping to improve her mood the slightest. Suddenly though, a lonesome ray of sunshine pokes through the clouds in the east where the rain also seems to have lessened. A blotch of colour catches her eye down on the street. She looks down and spots a group of ladies walking along, all wearing yukatas with bright flowery patterns. As foreign as it seems at first, it actually makes her smile. She wants to buy a yukata for herself, too, someday.

  But somehow this change of scenery cuts deeper into her. The loss of her beloved stuffed dog Tina still stings, no questioning that, but not as much as a couple of minutes ago. Annabelle is very surprised about that herself. And then she thinks about the good and caring custody she is in. Mako will probably have found her by now, or maybe even Chuck. Her friends know the value the dog holds for her.

  Maybe they're going to offer to send it back for her but thinking about that now she actually likes the idea of Tina staying at the Shatterdome. It's like a piece of her is still there. And maybe it's a sign. Maybe it's time to move on from the life the dog had been a part of. She still has the photo albums she collected over the years. There must be a picture of her somewhere.

  Suddenly the doorbell rings. She sees a delivery person with two parcels stacked on a sack barrow on the screen. She greets them with what she hopes is the correct phrase and hurries down. She loves assembling furniture and she's really looking forward to do it now.

  As she has signed the documents the delivery person says "Arigatōgozaimashita. And welcome to Japan!", sounding rather proud of themselves that they remembered this English phrase.

 Annabelle is surprised by hearing English in this fairly rural area but pleasantly so. Maybe she won't be so alone here after all.


End file.
